The prior art is already aware of various arrangements for remote control of steering wheels. Examples of such prior art are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,928,291 and 2,951,460 and 3,003,363 and 3,570,439 and 3,613,624 and 3,762,239 and 3,811,395 and 3,830,183, and 3,895,545. As will be seen in those patents, some of them pertain to a remote control device for turning the steering wheel of either a land vehicle or a boat. Others pertain to remote control devices for turning the steering apparatus of a boat. Since the present invention relates to a remote control attachment for turning a steering wheel of a boat, it will be discussed in that context. With repsect to the prior art patents, the disclosures which show driving motors or the like for controlling a steering wheel are different from that in the present instance in that they are either disposed off center with respect to the steering wheel or they are different and complex in their attachment to the steering wheel, and some of them are only for temporary attachment to the steering wheel and must be removed when the steering wheel is to be used without the remote control device connected therewith. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,928,291 and 3,570,439 and 3,895,545, those remote control steering devices are related to a steering wheel but they are arranged only to be used as the remote control device and they must be removed when the steering wheel itself is to be manually controlled. The same is true of U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,363 even though it shows a structure which is somewhat mounted co-axial with the steering column, though the driving motor is off center from the steering column. The present invention distinguishes over this art by having its driving motor coaxial with the steering column and having a clutch interposed between the driving motor and the steering wheel so that the steering wheel can be manually turned without requiring the removal of the driving motor but only necessitating the declutching of same by a simple maneuver of shifting a latch pin.
Further, the present invention provides a remote control steering mechanism which is readily and easily attached to a steering wheel, and which can be left on the steering wheel in the fully attached position when it is desired that the steering wheel be manually turned. Still further, the present invention provides a steering wheel remote control attachment which is adjustable for different diameters of steering wheel rims, and only the minimum apparatus, weight, and bulk are required for provision of this remote control device which is therefore suitable for a boat. Accordingly, the attachment of this device does not require that it be built into the boat or the like, and it need not be mounted on or connected with any part of the boat or like structure in any permanent manner, and the operator can still sit in front of the steering wheel and maneuver it in a usual manner without interference from any of the parts though they all remain in their operative position and can therefore be readily altered between the remote control mode and the manual steering mode, as desired.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.